Where the passionate are fed. Where the spiritually starving are nourished. “Artists,” she said, “are simply people who are passionate enough to imagine things that do not yet exist.” Seona Reid, Principal of Glasgow School of Art, graduation 2003

Essential Pairings

There are essential pairings in life that bring strength and comfort into the world. For Christians, it’s bread and red wine (or bread and Welch’s grape juice.) For those celebrating Rosh Hashanah this week, it’s apples and honey.

I experience deep personal joy when the following are paired:

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Bacon and eggs

Yolanda Pierce and a microphone

During a recent flight, I read The Dinner Party by Stephie Grob Plante in the Southwest Magazine about a real non-profit that organizes dinner parties for strangers who have experienced loss. This phrase grabbed me:

“Food and grief, one of the most consistent pairings in human history.”

God knows this is true.

Most likely, we have all experienced the”consistent pairing” of food and grief. When my mother died, Mary Moreau – a woman I barely knew from church – brought a broccoli and chicken casserole. When Rachel’s husband Mark was caught having an affair with Thelma in Chapter 13 of Heartburn, Rachel smashed a key lime pie in Mark’s face at a dinner party. And in thanksgiving for Nora Ephron, a friend brought me a key lime pie – which we ate in its entirety – after a seminary boyfriend cheated on me.

Food and grief are one of the most consistent pairings in human history.

As the world around us is reeling from multiple hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and refugee crises, we whose first inclination would be to take food to those who grieve find ourselves – most likely – unable to pair these particular tragedies with pie or casseroles. But there is another life-giving pairing that every single one of us can offer to our neighbors in need.